Fantasy Cursed Island

[Fangs9090]

Sal nodded. "True. But if you continue paying attention, that 'something' can not only speak but asked permission before properly boarding this vessel."

The girl nodded. "I've gotten in trouble for just jumping up before, so I always ask the captain's permission before getting on. If they say no, I just drop back into the water."

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"And if she didn't?", Siege gestured to the waters below, "What if there's more like her waiting for us to let our guard down?"

 

[Fangs9090]

“You do realize everyone on this ship is armed, right? Just calm down before I let some rain come through.” Sal turned her attention back to the girl. “So, who are you?”

The girl smiled, holding her hands behind her back. “My name’s Milia! Milia Kraken!”

 

[Deadwood Deer]

Siege scowled at the shark's back, but the axe stopped misting. She turned around to see Roy just behind her, "I'm not losing my mind, am I?"

Sinach fluttered out of the hold to follow the twins, just in time to hear Sal's threat to let rain through. That was enough for Sinach, and the paper dragon flew downstairs to go hide, trying to find a way into Katsuo's armor for that purpose.

 

[Fangs9090]

Roy shook his head. "You might be, but I did hear the same thing as you."

Sal crossed her arms. "Kraken? The dreaded sea monster?" She looked the girl over and raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Ah, sort of. Kraken's a family name. You're probably talking about my grandpa. He's retired now though."

 

[Deadwood Deer]

Siege facepalmed, "You ever get the feeling the world is trying to piss you off?", she asked Roy. She sighed and turned towards Milia Kraken, "Like that thing that attacked yesterday?"

 

[Fangs9090]

Milia tilted her head. “Maybe? Grandpa hasn’t attacked any ships in years. And daddy never cared for ship sinking. Neither did I, but I couldn’t if I tried.”

Sal shook her head. “Guess the kraken isn’t the only sea monster.”

 

[Deadwood Deer]

There was always another sea monster. Sea serpents, large predators, sea dragons, dragon turtles, which in certain ecosystems active preyed upon juvenile kraken if they could find them. The legendary kraken had spawned many young, as fish tended to do. "Okay, but how are you alive, it's raining sideways over there, the water can't be much better!"

 

[Fangs9090]

"I'm a good swimmer. And getting tossed around in the waves doesn't hurt. Not out in the open sea. Hitting the ship kinda hurt a little, but I'm fine. I'm soft and squishy enough that I can just brush it off."

 

[Deadwood Deer]

She sure looked soft and squishy, anyway. Siege sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of her nose as she turned to walk away, muttering under her breath. "Of course, because anything else would make sense."

 

[Fangs9090]

Sal spoke up again. "So, you only came up to...say hi?"

Milia nodded. "That's right. I like riding on boats and seeing where I end up."

"Right... Well, as long you behave, I suppose you're welcome aboard..."

"Thank you!"

 

[Deadwood Deer]

Siege made her way over to where Nidia and Emilia were, pointing back at the cluster around the hybrid kraken girl, "You're seeing what I'm seeing, right? I'm not losing my mind?"


"It's been very quiet," Jalin said, belowdecks, "Should we go see what the twins went on about?", he asked Katsuo.

 

[Fangs9090]

Nidia nodded. "Yeah, we see it."

Emilia tilted her head. "What I don't see is why you're so worked up."



Katsuo looked over, pausing a moment before he nodded. "Yes, I could use some fresh air."

 

[Deadwood Deer]

Siege blinked, "A gods-damned octopus appears out of nowhere, in the middle of a big ass storm, and that's not a problem to any of you?"


Jalin dipped his head in a nod and stood, closing his book. "Then let's go." He reached towards where his cane leaned agains the wall, the small measures of blood in parts of it responding to his command and leaping to his hand. Trusting Katsuo to follow, Jalin started up the stairs and came onto the deck. He could have used the blood on the ship to "see", but he was getting a bit restless.

 

[Fangs9090]

"Well..." Nidia looked at Milia, where she was beginning to mingle amidst the crew. "No, not really."

Emilia nodded. "How could I have a problem with her? She's adorable."

Roy spoke up as he walked over to join them. "And I believe 'scylla' is the proper term for what she is."


Katsuo followed after Jalin, but he stopped at the top of the steps, not quite stepping out onto the deck.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

Siege shook her head when Roy called their guest. That was definitely the correct term for the subcategory of aquatic beastkin Milia fit into, but Siege was familiar with the Scylla in the story of the Oddysey, a six-headed monster that hid in cliffs above massive whirlpools to eat sailors, not a little girl that was a cephalopod from the waist down. "Well this cute scylla got onto this boat with no problems, and if there's more like her we're screwed! don't you know how sirens work?"


"That is an unfamiliar voice," Jalin called as he stepped onto the deck and heard Milia talking.

 

[Fangs9090]

"Well, her mana pool is nothing impressive and she's unarmed, so there's no threat from her specifically. If you're so concerned, you can patrol the ship and keep a lookout. I'd even help, if it'll calm you down."



Katsuo nodded. "It appears we've received a visit from a young scylla."

 

[Deadwood Deer]

That did seem like it would calm Siege down, or at least give her something to do. "Fine," Siege put her axe back on it's hook on her back, "Let's go."


"A scylla?", Jalin raised an eyebrow. "I supposed I shouldn't be surprised, a cephalopod body plan would do well under these conditions." He glanced back at Katsuo, "Are you certain you do not intend to come on deck?" The railings were waist high in most areas, and the ship and surf weren't causing as large problems as they might have.

 

[Fangs9090]

Roy gave a nod before he started heading around the edge of the ship, looking over to check the sides for anything that might be crawling up.


Katsuo nodded. "I can see enough from here. I would rather be overcautious than suffer the inconvenience of falling overboard, and even worse, the inconvenience it would cause you and the others."

 

[Deadwood Deer]

Siege in turn walked around the edge. She was so on edge her axe was continuing to nibble at her mana pool, wherever the handle bumped, frost flowered out. On the railings, walls, it wasn't hard to figure out where Siege had been because it looked like someone had used an explosive to violently interfere with a snowman.


"As you wish," Jalin dipped his head in a nod, turning to seek out the scylla that had appeared on the vessel. "I do not believe you came aboard with the rest of us," Jalin noted when he caught up with Milia, "May I ask your name?"

 

[Fangs9090]

Sal would've taken issue with her leaving ice everywhere, but it would before it could be a problem, so she left the matter alone.



Milia looked over. "My name's Milia. I just got here." She paused as she looked at Jalin, tilted her head before lifting herself up on her tentacles to wave a hand in front of his face.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

Even if Jalin had eyes, he was wearing a blindfold, so he couldn't see Milia's tentacle. And he hadn't had a reason to use his sensory stones so far, so he couldn't really pick out details. But as always, he could tell there was something moving about in front of his face, and it wasn't as fragile as Lady Niudisa. He reached up with his cane hand, leaving the cane suspended with his magic, to catch her hand. "I am blind, but I am not unaware," he smiled, "My name is Jalin."

 

[Fangs9090]

Milia blinked in surprise as he caught her hand before she smiled. "Woah. Why do you use that cloth instead of eye patches? Other sailors look cool with one eye patch, so two would be twice as cool. Right?"

 

[Deadwood Deer]

Jalin smiled, "Do you know why sailors actually wear eyepatches?", he asked. It wasn't because they'd lost an eye. On most ships that alone would make you unfit for duty.

 

[Fangs9090]

"Because they don't want to use that eye? Or they can't."